1. business and industrial
2. energy
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HYDRO GROUP PLC DEFENCE CAPABILITY
Represented by:
Web: www.nord-tech.dk
Mail: post@nord-tech.dk
Tel.: +45 6591 9802
Contents
1.
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 3
2.
Hydro Group Profile ........................................................................................................................ 4
3.
Hydro Group defence solutions ...................................................................................................... 6
3.1 HRS connectors (Hydro Bond Rubber Seal) .................................................................................. 9
3.2 HDM connectors (Hydro Bond Deck Mate) ................................................................................ 10
3.3 HPS penetrators (Hydro Bond penetrator series) ...................................................................... 11
3.4 Fibre Link penetrator .................................................................................................................. 12
3.5 Moulding and Encapsulation ...................................................................................................... 12
3.6 Subsea optical and electrical cables ........................................................................................... 14
4.
Hydro Group experience ............................................................................................................... 15
4.1 South Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) - Aerostat cable ......................................... 16
4.2. Kongsberg Acoustic range - Optical and electrical cable and connector harness ..................... 16
4.3 Thales Optronic Systems’ non-hull penetrative optronic mast - SDM connectors ................... 16
4.4 QinetiQ – Heavy tow cable ......................................................................................................... 17
5.
Tests and Qualification.................................................................................................................. 18
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1. Introduction
Hydro Bond Engineering was formed in 1982 by a team of experienced engineers who envisage the
potential to develop subsea technology in the North Sea. Offshore oil explorations had not long
started and the arduous conditions of underwater engineering projects necessitate specialist
capabilities from specialist companies. Hydro Bond Engineering was such a company. However, the
nature of the projects was increasing in complexities; the customer portfolio was growing so in 1987
Hydrocable Systems was created. Initially based in Arbroath and relocated to its current site 1991;
Hydrocable Systems joined with Hydro Bond Engineering and operate under the holding company of
Hydro Group plc.
Each company specialises in two business streams;
Hydro Bond Engineering limited designs, manufacture and support subsea optical and electrical
connectors, penetrators, assemblies, and terminations and
Hydrocable Systems limited designs, manufactures and support subsea optical and electrical cables,
tethers and umbilical’s. Together they provide the complete solution.
In essence a “total solution” to complex problems is achievable from one company.
Today, Hydro Group plc employs 71 full time direct staff, and has business representation in key
geographical areas. Due to its fast pace growth and demand to increase its product portfolio the
Group has recently moved to a new state of the art purposed-built facility. Its customer base include
all blue chip and major operators and contractors in both domestic and international subsea makets.
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2. Hydro Group Profile
Hydro Group specialises in the design and manufacture of subsea and harsh environment electrical
and optical connectors, penetrators, cable assemblies and terminations. With 28 years experience.
Hydro Group plc is a market leader in providing solutions for subsea applications in both domestic
and international markets. We are at the forefront in the development of subsea technologies, with
involvement from prototype concept through to design, manufacture and project management,
supplying the whole package, including umbilical cables electrical and optical connection systems for
data, power and signal transmission.
We provide solutions to a number industry sectors:
 Defence
 Oil & Gas
 Oceanographic
 Diving
 Marine Renewable Energies
Our scope of work includes:
Hydro Bond Engineering:
Design, manufacture and delivery of:
 Submarine Pressure Hull Glands
 Penetrators NPT, UNF, DDC, Fibre Optic
 Connectors – Deck Mateable,
Underwater Mateable, & Non Magnetic
 Terminations – Optical, Kevlar, Wire
Armour, Hybrid Connectors
 Offshore Installation & Termination,
Moulding Polyurethane (P.U),
Polyethylene (P.E), P.V.C., Hytrel,
Neoprene.
 Miniature connectors.
 EXD rated connectors
 Sensors
 Junction boxes
 Cable Termination & Moulding
 Moulding kits
 Pressure Testing to 10,000 PSI / 6860
MSW / 689 BAR
 Project management
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Hydrocable Systems:
Design, manufacture and delivery of:
 Fibre optic cables
 Diver Communication cables
 ROV Tether cables
 Cat 5 Cables
 Mini TV cables
 Push Rod Cables
 Halogen Free Cables
 Armoured Cables
 Buoyant Cables
 Kevlar Strain Cables
 Towed Arrays
 Range Cables
 Towed Sonar Cable
 Thin Wall Conductor Cables
 Welding Cables
 Production Control Cables
 Completion Control Cables
 100 Meters MOQ
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Certification
Hydro Group plc holds the certification approval to ISO 9001:2008 to design and manufacture of
subsea electrical and optical connectors, electrical pressure hull penetrators, associated subsea
electrical cable terminations, installation of electrical and optical connectors, specialist underwater
and harsh environment electrical and optical composite cables, tethers and umbilical’s.
Headquarters:
Hydro Group plc
Hydro House, Claymore Avenue
Aberdeen Science & Energy Park
Bridge of Don
Aberdeen, AB23 8GW
Scotland, UK
Tel. +44(0)1224822996
Fax.+44(0)1224825142
Email. sales@hydrogroup.plc.uk
Web. www.hydrogroup.plc.uk
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3. Hydro Group defence solutions
Hydro Group specialise in the customised design and manufacture of subsea optical electrical
connectors, cables and penetrators whilst continuing to invest in product development to further
expand our product offering.
We have highlighted some of the most popular ranges. Please feel free to visit our website
www.hydrogroup.plc.uk for our complete range of products and additional technical information.
1. Submarine pressure hull gland
2. Submarine & surface vessel water tight
bulkhead gland (WTB)
3. Submarine & surface vessel fibre optic
junction box (FOISB)
4. Submarine closed
system connectors
loop
degaussing
5. Submarine stator monitoring connection
system
6. Submarine countermeasures (specially
screened) firing system, connection
system
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7. Submarine non penetrative mast
communication connector system
8. Submarine non penetrative mast
dynamic control connector system
9. Submarine
outboard
connection system
fibre
optic
10. Submarine flank array sonar system
connection system
11. Submarine
system
tether
communication
12. Helicopter dipping sonar quick release
connection system
13. Surface vessel bow sonar connection
system
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14. Surface vessel towed active and passive
array sonar system
15. Mine hunter ROV tether and connection
system
16. Autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV)
Fibre optic and electrical connection
system
17. Subsea vertical array detection system
connection system
18. Subsea multi influence & acoustic test
range connection system permanent
19. Subsea multi influence & acoustic test
range connection systems mobile
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3.1 HRS connectors (Hydro Bond Rubber Seal)
Hydro Bond underwater mate able rubber sealing connectors are designed for diver depth but when
mated can be used in deep sea applications down to 2440 MSW. Each contact, cable and connector
housing is chemically bonded into a synthetic rubber matrix. This prevents water ingress to the cable
cores even when the fix ring is fully engaged and prevents the connector from being over tightened.
When mated underwater, electrical isolation between contacts is achieved by means of individual rubber
conical sealing arrangements. When the connector is mated, water is initially forced out of the tubes.
When the mate is complete, the individual tubes will have sealed, retaining some of the water inside, but
completely isolated from one another. Disengagement is made easy by the fix ring which jacks the
connectors apart. Typically this connector has been used for submarine closed loop degaussing systems,
general outboard connection of submarines, offshore range systems and hardware.
HRS
HRS
Electrical
Pin density
1 to 70 contacts
Voltage rating
Current
Up to 3300 Volts RMS
Up to 750 Amps
Environmental
Water depth rating
Temperature ratings
Submerged design life
2440 MSW standard
(6,900 MSW upon
request)
-20°C to + 60°C
25 years
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Mechanical
Material
Shell sizes
O ring seal
Mate and de-mate use
Stainless steel, Titanium
Aluminium, Silicon
Bronze, Nickel
Aluminium Bronze
Available in 5 shell sizes
NI 70
How many cycles
Termination options
Fully water blocked
Mechanical strain termination
Oil filled
P.U. / P.E. moulding
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3.2 HDM connectors (Hydro Bond Deck Mate)
The HDM series has standard configurations with high density electrical paths for submarine tether
communication systems, subsea multi influence & acoustic test range connections permanent or mobile,
ROV communications module applications, 4 pin high voltage / high current for hydraulic power unit
(HPU) applications, Optical Fibre paths for communications or video, coaxial paths for video or
combinations of all the above. It is rated to 3,450 MSW as standard and with a 6,900 MSW option to
meet most ocean floor applications.
HDM
HDM
HDM titanium / fibre Optic
HDM fibre optic
Electrical
Pin density
3 to 73 contacts
Mechanical
Material
Voltage rating
Current
Partial discharge
Up to 4500 Volts RMS
Up to 95 Amps
<10 pc (3.3 kV options)
Shell sizes
O ring seal
Mate and de-mate use
Fibre Optic
Fibre optic- single mode
9/125 µm
Environmental
Water depth rating
Fibre optic- multi mode
Typical insertion loss
50/125 : 62.5/125
0.5 dB per mated pair
Temperature ratings
Submerged design life
Stainless steel,
Titanium,
Aluminium,
Silicon Bronze,
Nickel Aluminium
Bronze, Inconel
Available in 7 shell sizes
NI70
>500 cycles
3,450 MSW standard
(6,900 MSW upon
request)
-20°C to + 60°C
25 years
Termination options:
Fully water blocked
Mechanical strain terminations
Oil filled
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P.U/ P.E moulding
3.3 HPS penetrators (Hydro Bond penetrator series)
Hydro Group plc electrical penetrators are designed for deep sea applications and navy dive systems.
These are used for passing electrical energy through the pressure boundaries of underwater vehicles and
equipment. Several of the designs are Lloyds, DNV and ABS approved and has been specifically designed
to withstand both gas and hydrostatic pressure. Pressure blocking within the penetrator is achieved by
using a hard and tough non-conductive insert through which solid conductors are passed. Each individual
insert is pre-tested to 5,000 psi before being wired and assembled into the penetrator housing.
Peripheral sealing of the insert is affected by means of viton rubber 'O' seals.
HPS right angle penetrator
HPS right angle penetrator
HPS in line penetrator
HPS right angle penetrator
Electrical
Pin density
1 to 55 contacts
Mechanical
Material
Voltage rating
500 Volts RMS (typical)
Fixings
Current
Conductor tails
Up to 150 Amps
0.5mm² to 70 mm²
O ring seal
Shear notch
Environmental
Water depth rating
Temperature ratings
Submerged design life
Certification
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Stainless steel, Titanium
Aluminium,
Silicon Bronze,
NPT, smooth bore,
flanged
Viton
For diving bell
application
Up to 1500 MSW unmanned
455 MSW manned
-20°C to + 60°C
25 years
DNV R/2004, Lloyds & ABS witness testing
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3.4 Fibre Link penetrator
Hydro Fibre Link deep field penetrator can operate at 3000 MSW (310 Bar). The design and construction
of the optical fibre penetrators can be limited due to the cable design and construction. The Hydro Fibre
Link deep field penetrator is most suitable for sea bed ploughs, ROV, MUX systems and deep sea
platforms.
Fibre-Link
Mechanical
Material
O ring seal
Stainless steel (as
standard), Titanium and
Aluminium (optional)
NI70 (standard)
Fibre-link
Fibre Optic
Fibre optic- single mode
9/125 µm
Fibre optic- multi mode
Typical insertion loss
Depth rating
50/125 : 62.5/125 µm
0.5 dB
3000 MSW (310 bar)
3.5 Moulding and Encapsulation
The L 100 Encapsulation Rubber which Hydro Bond use for moulding cable splices and over moulding
connector housings is polyurethane rubber. This particular material is heat cured with diamine base
compound to form polyurethane rubber outstanding physical properties.
L 100 should not be confused with cold setting and hot setting polyester based urethanes since these
materials have vastly inferior water resistant properties.
L 100 rubber has excellent water and oil resistant properties. The long term water resistant of L 100 has
been fully investigated over a period of 10 years and these results (see below) show that the material
does not appreciably degrade. In addition, our company has first hand practical knowledge of the
successful use of L 100 in subsea applications over the past 28 years!
Hydro Group specialise in chemically bonding the L 100 rubber to metal and other elastomers. We can
bond to the most conventional cable sheath material such Neoprene Hytrel, Nitrile, Polyurethane,
Hypalon, EPR, etc
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Assembly being removed from mould tool
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P.U junction box sample
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3.6 Subsea optical and electrical cables
Hydrocable Systems designs and manufactures a range of cables suitable for use underwater and in harsh
environments. Our extensive knowledge of materials and engineer applications combine to manufacture
high quality products.
Applications include:
 Cables for videos
 Data transmission
 Communications
 Power
 Instrumentation
 ROV
 Cable plough
 Trenchers
Armoured
ROV tether
Range
Composite
Flat power
Fibre optic
High Voltage
Strain Bearing
High grade materials such as are used in manufacture to produce cables with superior abrasion
resistance, flexibility and reliability
 Polyurethane
 EPR
 Hytrel
 TPR
 Megalon
 Polyethylene
 Cross-linked
The composition of our cables may vary widely:
 Multi-conductor to give optimum usage for various video and camera type.
 Twisted screened pairs, triples and quads with foil screening for communication and signal.
 Insulation compounds suitable for high voltage and various power applications.
 Sheathing compounds and braids for various mechanical and environmental requirements.
The vast majority of our cables are customised to client’s specification; however we keep on stock some
of our most popular ranges in a variety of lengths.
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Stock cable
Stock cable
Stock conductor cores
Stock conductor cores
In addition to popular cable configurations customer designs are offered to suit specific customer
requirements. As part of its specialized service Hydrocable Systems alongside Hydro Bond Engineering
can also provide complete cable assemblies, harnessing, terminations, splicing and encapsulation of
electrical / fibre optic connectors. Our cables can be terminated to our own connectors or any other third
party connector.
Most of our cables comply with the majority of International standards and British specification
standards. They are also tested in each and every stage of the manufacturing process. Please refer to the
section “Test and Qualification” below for further clarification on the tests conducted in all our cables.
4. Hydro Group experience
Hydro Group has participated in a number of defence and other high profile projects for the past 30
years. Our customer portfolio includes major subsea contractors and operators in both domestic and
international markets. Below is a list of the 4 projects.
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4.1 South Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) - Aerostat cable
Project:
Hydro Group was contracted by the South Korean Research Institute (KARI) to design and
manufacture a lightweight cable for their aerostat project. An aerostat is effectively a tether balloon
that remains aloft through the use of buoyant lighter than air gases. It is used primarily in military
and surveillance operations. The project took 3 years of research and development between KARI
and Hydro Group.
Solution supplied:
The aerostat envelope required a lightweight cable and connectors for an operational height of 4000
ft. The lightweight cable consisted of an aramid braided strength member for strength, fibre optics
for data and camera systems. The 10 ton breaking snatch load on a small diameter lightweight cable
made it very challenging to manufacture and qualify.
Aerostat
Hydro Cable Systems CS1955
4.2. Kongsberg Acoustic range - Optical and electrical cable and connector harness
Project
Hydro Group was contracted by Kongsberg to design and manufacture a cable and connector
harness to be fitted to an acoustic range for the Turkish navy.
Solution supplied
The acoustic range required 25 assemblies of armoured cable, terminated to HG deck mate
connectors (HDM). The connector assembly incorporated strain terminations with the armour
electrically insulated from the connector shell. The requirement was for the assembly to take a load
bearing of 2.8 tonne approx for a towed acoustic range. Third party connectors were also terminated
to some of the assemblies and modified to improve through life service. FAT test well conducted,
shipping was to military standard MIL STD-129P.
Assemblies ranged from around 200 meters up to 2,850 meters in length.
Acoustic range
HG optical & electrical assembly
4.3 Thales Optronic Systems’ non-hull penetrative optronic mast - SDM connectors
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Project
HG was contracted by Thales Optronic Systems to design and manufacture special hybrid deck mate
connectors for the non-penetrative mast to be installed in BAE Astute submarine program.
Solution supplied
A non hull-penetrating electronic imaging system, which incorporates a broad range of multi
spectrum sensors, support for high sensitivity wide band RF sensors and advanced signal and image
processing technology. The system required a full cable and connector subsystem for integration and
interface of the mast to the PHG (pressure hull gland). The subsystem met all operational
requirements to provide a fully flexible cable interface under all dynamic operating conditions and
meet all functional requirement at full submarine dive depth.
Non-penetrative optronic mast
HG hybrid deck mate connectors
4.4 QinetiQ – Heavy tow cable
Project
HG was contracted by QinetiQ to supply a heavy tow cable, associated strain termination and cable
harnesses for their Variable depth sonar system.
Solution supplied
The 660m long contra helical steel wire armour heavy tow body sonar cable was designed to be
towed behind a war ship hunting for submarines. The acoustic dampening braid on the outer of the
umbilical is used for reducing the vortex and increasing coefficients whilst being towed at 20 knots
plus. Incorporated within the design was a weak link to enable safe release of the sonar system and
ensure ship safety. The parameters for the design were that the release force was 176.5 kN plus or
minus 10 % The cable breaking strength was 300 kN plus or minus 20 kN. Electrical and optical tests
were also conducted while a 10 tonne load was applied to the cable strain terminations. Hydrostatic
test to 500 metres was conducted as part of the requirement.
QinetiQ tow sonar
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5. Tests and Qualification
Routine Test and Factory Acceptance Test are a vital part of our business. As standard practice we
perform a number of tests throughout the manufacturing process of our connectors, cables, assemblies
and penetrators.
For our connectors, connector assemblies and penetrators we can perform:
 Insulation test
 Continuity test
 Mate and de-mate test
 Sealing test
 Optical test
 Explosion proof test
 Temperature test
 Hydrostatic test
o 1 hydrostatic pressure vessel up to 2000 psi / 1372 MSW / 137.90 bar
o 1 hydrostatic pressure vessel up to 3250 psi / 2229 MSW / 224 bar
 Helium test
o 1 helium pressure vessel up to 5000 psi / 3430 MSW / 344.74 bar
 Hydraulic test
o 1 oil pressure vessel up to 5000 psi / 3430 MSW / 344.74 bar
o 1 oil pressure vessel up to 10000 psi / 6860 MSW / 689 bar
Hydrostatic pressure vessel
Assembly testing
For our cables, tethers and umbilical’s we can perform
 Capacitance test
 Loop resistance test
 Impedance test
 Attenuation test
 Noise test
 Insulation resistance test
 High voltage test
 Conductor resistance test
 Low resistance test
 Dimensional height gauge test
 Tensile test
 Pull test
 Flash test
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We can also do third party qualification to meet customer’s required standards.
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